Digital to analog converters (DACs) find utility in a great many devices. They can be found in audio and video systems, and within motor control and industrial control systems. Automotive, aerospace, instrumentation and sensor actuation and healthcare sectors are also users of large numbers of DACs.
Motor control systems can range from the very large where, for example, massive machines such as cranes and lifting gear are controlled by signals output by a DAC, to the very small where, for example, autofocus functions in cameras or other small scale actuators or micro-machines are controlled by a DAC.
Sometimes the processing systems providing input words to the digital to analog converter are themselves relatively modest in their capability or are highly tasked such that they do not have the spare capacity to reliable take on updating the DAC at a higher rate. It would therefore be advantageous to include some form of flexibility within (i.e. as part of) the DAC which enabled its output, and in particular the shape of transitions at the output of the DAC to be controlled without requiring further intervention by the system providing input words to the DAC.